RMR/Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing rider Jake Holden scored his first victory in the AMA Pro Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 series with a dominating flag-to-flag victory at New Jersey Motorsports Park on September 6.

With Holden’s teammate and pre-New Jersey series points leader Danny Eslick sitting out the round to concentrate on his tight battle for the championship in the Daytona SportBike class, Holden looked to have clear sailing early in the weekend. A strong showing by newcomer PJ Jacobson, who qualified in second position on the Celtic Racing entry, hinted he might be Holden’s toughest competition, but at the start of Sunday’s 12-lap feature race it was RMR/Rossmeyer’s Kyle Wyman who got the holeshot into turn one and led part of the first lap.

“I was smoking my hush puppies on the start. I almost looped it,” said Holden, who was third into the first corner after his bike wheelied off the starting line. “I knew I had to get out there and possibly make a gap because I knew these guys were starting to pick up the pace. I felt like I was pushing the envelope there for a bit after I got by Kyle and PJ trying to break a gap. Then just put my head down and went for the win.”

Once he gained the lead, Holden checked out as Jacobson and Wyman diced for the second step of the podium, waging a back and forth drafting battle in the race’s late stages. Wyman moved back into second on lap 10, only to be repassed by Jacobson on the penultimate lap, setting up what looked to be drag race off the final corner to the checkered flag. But on the final lap, Wyman was unable to make the slingshot pass work and Jacobson held onto to second place by a 0.203 second margin.

“Kyle and I had an awesome battle. I didn’t really know what to expect near the end with the tire wearing a little bit. It was definitely a fun race,” said Jacobson, who ran most of the race with a broken shifter.

“I got a lucky break getting the holeshot there and getting out front first, but then Jake came by me in turn five, and then PJ came by me in the last corner there on the first lap and I knew I had to tag onto one of those guys and try to go with them,” Wyman said. “I brought [PJ] back a little at the end and got by him. He came back by me on the next lap and we were really close. I thought I was going to be able to do it at the end. On the last lap coming out of turn nine with his broken shifter he kind of missed a shift and I was right up underneath his rear end and had to check up a little bit and then I couldn’t get the drive out of there.”

In fourth place, MotorcycleUSA.com editor Steve Atlas posted a strong finish for HOG Racing in his series debut, followed by Harv’s Harley-Davidson’s Travis Wyman in fifth, RMR/Rossmeyer’s Joe Rozynski in sixth and James Gang/Hoban Brothers Racing’s Paul James in seventh. Michael Corbino (RMR/Rossmeyer) and Matthew Heidel (Shar-Tuff Racing) rounded out the order.

Jake Holden is now in First in the Point’s… Even without racing this round, Danny Eslick is holding down Second Overall in Point’s, with just one race to go !

The five-round Vance & Hines XR1200 series concludes September 25-26 with the final round of the 2010 AMA Pro Racing season at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama.

The team were joined by Sam Caterick & Sam Grogan two former Lunar students. The car preparation started on a sunny morning whilst Dan & Peter reported to race control as we were sharing the car in double header event. The Clark of the course decided that we could both do 3 laps each in one 15 minute session. So I would get an out lap a flying lap and in lap, driver change and 3-4 laps for Dan, the challenge was set.

Qualifying. The collecting area gates opened first gear selected and go, go, go…… the plan was to stay ahead of the pack so to keep a clear track for my flying lap. Cold tyres and brakes and Cadwell do make you smile out lap was a little slippery but it all went a little quickly but great fun. I dived into the pits for driver change and Dans turn. Dan pushed hard and was getting quicker lap on lap before the flag came out. I qualified 11th and 2nd however due to double header rules as Dan was second driver his 2nd best time was used so he would start 4th.

Race 7 – 11th on the grid the aim was to beat Pat Fenn 10th however we were retained in the holding area for over 30 minutes whilst the marshals tried to dress the oil dumped from park straight to mountain (thank you metro cup).

On the warm up lap it was clear that it was going to be fun as the dust and oil was thick. Along side Pat on the grid again for my last race this season 5 second board and lights go out and away, I had a flying start and managed to clear 1 places however Pats V8 had the legs on me and I had to tuck in behind. As we reached park straight it looked like a blizzard as the cement dust was mad and made for an interesting run through to the Goose Neck. Lap one was completed of the 25 minute race. The aim was to maximise point today so finishing was at front of mind so I took a steady pace for the first 4 laps until I was comfortable with the oil on the track. I had been having a tussle with David Smith in his ZS who had given chase but I was able to pull out a reasonable lead after I had gotten into my groove. By the time the flag dropped I had gone form 11th to 5th and 2nd in class and taking over 4 seconds off my qualifying time.

Saturday evening the team spanner checked the car cleaned brakes and settled into a social evening with other racers and got to see some of the other races from the day. Sunday morning and it was Dans turn for the hot seat in Race 8. Dan started 4th and at the start had a good push, the V8’s being some 200+ kilos lighter with more power managed to get in front off the line. Dan pushed hard and was running in P6 for the first 4-5 laps it was clear that the 2 cars in front were having there own battle which meant Dan could get a chance, however with a class C behind and in front Dan had his work cut out. With the car in front defending to keep his competitor behind Dan at bay, meant that Dans charge was being hampered. However following a cracking move Dan was able to pass Blaine at the Mountain and chase the pack in front taking a further 2 seconds form his lap times and some 38 seconds lead on Blaine. Dan drove the car to his full ability and at the flag had done the team proud securing not only first in class, but 3rd overall.

So we have secured 2nd in class and 1st in class out for the 2 rounds this weekend, at time of writing we look like we are 1st in class for the championship however until this are published by the championship.

To finish our season in the MGCC we entered the 2 driver 60 minute endurance race after half an hours qualifying we started P6 from 24 runners and I was in the hot seat for the start. We had worked out that the tank should do a hour as we burn approx 1ltr a minute at race pace, our tyres and brakes had not let us down all season and a real test for the EBC blues which have lasted the full season. I had a good start albeit delayed by a wheel spinning ZR. The first lap was interesting with the amount of fuel being carried, especially with the car now being over 1300 kilos compared to some of the smaller cars weighing 800 kilos the joys of open races from different championships.

However we stayed on the black stuff and push hard for 25 minutes until drive change handing over the car in 7th. Dan again took up the challenges and roared out for the pits to attack the circuit for the last time this weekend. As the fuel load dropped Dan was able to push harder setting quicker and quicker lap times soon Dan was under my 1.51 and pushed forward also moving up the grid, after 50 minutes Dan was on a charge and taking 4 seconds a lap out of the next car but with constant pace and balance Dan got his lap times down to 1.471 on season old tyres was a superb effort. At the flag we finished 4th out of 24 racers.

The team on the pit wall cheered as Dan ran the wall to celebrate. We were made up with the finale of the weekend and proudly took 1st in class award.

So the season has drawn to a close for us and the work starts now for 2011, the MGZS is now to be repainted in new team colours and the build of the MGF will start after the Castle Combe Stroke Association Charity Day in September.

Thank you all for your support in 2010 and we will be talking to you shortly re our plans for 2011.

Kind Regards

Peter Burchill
On Behalf of Vulcan Racing

MX5 racer Rob Boston is on the road to victory during his recent race win in the 2010 Autumn meeting at Rockingham. The next race to be held at Croft is a vital race for him, if he scores just 4 more points than Tom Roche, he will be this years champion!  EBC Brakes have crafted him a special set of Bluestuff brake pads for the event.

To find out more about Ma5da MX5 Racing visit their website here: www.ma5daracing.com

Best of luck Rob!

I just wanted to drop you all a line and let you know that my teammate John Pitts and I teamed with fellow Missouri Vee Rubber Tires sponsored rider Michael Burrows to win the Pro-Am Class of the 10 Hour Hearland Challenge. It was a good run from start to finish and we built a comfortable lead to lap the 2nd place team by the end of the race.

Here is a link to the article and our info is on page 5 of the article: www.atvriders.com

Once again thank you EBC Brakes for helping us get to where we are in the OMA Series and to win this 10 Hour race.

Bryan Hulsey

Over the last 12 to 18 months I’ve used Performance Friction PF01, Ferrodo DS2500 & DS3000, Carbone Lorraine & Yellowstuff R compounds.

I had just removed a set of spent Performance Friction 01 pads from my car and needed to fit a set of brake pads when I saw this thread last week, I emailed Andy and the EBC Brakes production team delivered a set of new generation Bluestuff pads within a few days.

My set-up is:
Front: Alcon monoblock 6 piston calipers, 365mm discs, new generation EBC Bluestuff pads
Rear: Compbrake 4 pot competition callipers, 330mm discs, Performance Friction 01 pads.
Castrol SRF fluid. No servo assist. Full Michelin R18/240 slicks all-round.

I fitted the pads last Friday and headed off for testing at Donnington Saturday lunchtime, I had a friend of mine with me for the day, Time Attack Pro driver Gav Renshaw. We unloaded, set-up the car and was out for our first session at about 2pm.

There is no easy way to bed race car pads in, I did about 7 laps nice and easy and cycled the pads about 40 or 50 times, no dramas with the brakes but obviously we weren’t pushing them……. I hate the smell of burning fresh pads!!!

We let the car and the brakes cool down and then Gav headed out in the car for a full pace test; warm-up lap, all good, still a bit of a funny smell from the pads (to be expected)…second lap now full pace, 3rd corner, complete loss of power….Gav dumped the car on the grass and I took a quick look under the bonnet to the marshalls clear displeasure!!…..snapped throttle cable!!! at first I thought that would be our day over but…After a tow back to the pits and a good look at the broken throttle cable I set about making a repair, managed to get a good repair to hold by modifying and fitting a couple of bits and bobs I had packed in the our race support vehicle.

By now we only had an hour of tracktime left and had only just run the pads in…..Gav went back out in the car with me riding passenger…..

3 easy laps, cold bite on the brakes pads now good, bite at full temperature not quite there yet, but still breaking in, pedal starting to get nice and firm though under heavy braking (there are 4 heavy braking areas at Donnington, in my car on low boost its typically from 130mph+ down to 40-50mph). Once Gav had full confidence in the pads (I.e. no burning clutch smell and nice firm pedal) then he let rip with a few very quick laps, he is a very smooth driver….the brakes performed flawlessly, no fade, no judder, no fluid boil, no deposits on the disc, fantastic stopping power with the good progressive feel to the brake, so an ability to modulate/control the braking forces.

I took to the car for the final session of the day. By now the brakes were fully bedded in an were improved again over Gav’s session, I have good in car footage and the braking forces are up at 1.3G, bearing in mind the pads had only had around a dozen or so laps at this point I thought this was a solid performance, I done around 8 laps and again experienced no fade or loss of performance. At no point did the tyres lock up so with further testing over the next month, with the new generation Bluestuff compound fitted to the rear of the car as well we should be able to find the limit of this pad compound/tyre combination.

I raced at AAA saloons at Castle Combe on Bank holiday Monday, however an electrical gremlin caused early retirement in the first race and cost me a podium finish in the second race, nevertheless the braking performance for the entire 13 lap 2nd race was predicable, reliable with a nice firm pedal repeatedly braking heavy from 135+mph and again comparable to the performance of the top spec racing pads I’ve previously used. I managed a number of overtaking manoeuvres by out braking competitors into corners.

From my experience to date I can say that these new generation Bluestuff brake pads offer excellent value for money and a performance that is comparable when compared to other top spec race pads out there on the market. I am intending on using these pads for the final round of Time Attack at Snetterton 10th October.

I should also say that I have no affiliations to EBC Brakes whatsoever and the above report is an unbiased assessment soley based on the performance of the EBC brake pads supplied.

See the video footage from testing at Donnington last weekend:

Review By Paul Doyle (aka popeyedoyle on scooby.net)

Round 5 of Formula Drift was a great successes for our team as we made it into the main show on Saturday. Qualifying  19 out of 60 professional teams. I have full confidants in the car to drive as hard as I want. I can’t wait till the next two rounds.

Maria onboard the Steve Wheatman Suzuki XR69 at the famous Creg Ny Baa corner. By Dave Kneen www.ManxPhotosOnline.com

The Northampton racer followed up her recent record-busting performance at the Ulster Grand Prix to finish within a whisker of third place in the Manx Grand Prix Senior Post Classic race on the Isle of Man on Monday.

The former Isle of Man TT female lap record holder was riding superbly in third place and was set for another podium finish when the steering damper of her Suzuki XR69 snapped off forcing her to reduce her speed.

However, despite the damper failure Costello was thrilled to have ridden so well in a race won by Michael Dunlop in a record time of one hour 18 minutes 6.23 seconds. Costello had entered the last lap behind Dunlop and runner-up Michael Buckley dreaming of her second Isle of Man podium following her 2005 third place in the ultra lightweight category. But the snapped steering damper meant her final lap time of 22mins 46.13 seconds was not enough to prevent Geoff Martin and Chris McGahan overtaking her.

“I’d not even considered a place on the podium, so when I saw the boards around the course with ‘3’ on them it was like, ‘me, third?’,” said Costello, who will be signing copies of her autobiography, Queen Of Bikers, at the Northampton branch of Waterstones later this month.

“Of course it was disappointing to lose out on the podium because of a problem beyond my control, but I’m still over the moon that I managed to get the big old Suzuki back across the finish line without a steering damper.

“The Suzuki has been a real challenge to ride but I’ve had an amazing Manx Grand Prix and I’m looking forward to returning next year on another Post Classic machine. I can’t thank the ‘dream team’ of Steve Wheatman [owner of the Suzuki XR69], Jon Sims [who built it], Mick Grant [TT legend and my mentor] and Paul Boulton [top spanner man] enough. This Manx Grand Prix has been one of the best experiences of my life.”

New EBC Bluestuff NDX continues to impress 100% of the test drivers taking part in the 500 vehicle test drive around the world including over 60 Impreza drivers in the UK alone . This shot is a scoobynet regular called Morfo shown here in Rally driving in the UK. To read the full thread telling the true facts about how good the new Bluestuff NDX pads really are go to this thread on scoobynet:

EBC Brakes new generation disc pad materials tests and reviews

Click here to view the video.

Whats stopping you ??????

WOH was held at the K&N headquarters in Riverside and had a down to earth, neighborhood car show feel to it. It’s a newer, annual meet-up and had a nice turn out. Because it is a smaller show, we were able to spend a lot of quality time speaking to the attendees which included many individuals who already use EBC on the cars, trucks and bikes. This also gave us an opportunity to introduce new and current fans to some of the newer and upgraded products in the EBC line.

EBC sponsors Formula Drift driver Jeff Jones, who brought his car and spent the day chatting it up with race fans. Jeff currently runs the Yellowstuff pad and the GD Series rotor.

Here’s what Jeff Jones had to say about EBC pads and rotors.
Click here to view the video.

Here’s the photo gallery from WOH

Moving on…

RPM was next on our list.

The RPM tour stopped in Irvine Ca on a hot, sunny summer August day, for a one day event.

As with most tuner shows there were tons of makes & models…including import bikini models.

EBC had quite a presence at the show, as many owners to sport bikes, customs cars and car clubs are dedicated EBC users.

There was a ton of buzz regarding the new Bluestuff race pad – a full race track pad which is also street capable.

One thing is for certain…EBC pads and rotors are strong, tough, long lasting, environmentally friendly and here to stay! Stay tuned for announcements regarding new products and events at EBC Blog.

Here’s the photo gallery from RPM Irvine

We look forward to seeing you this month at Crusin For A Cure at the OC Fair Grounds on Sept 25th and in Las Vegas at the SEMA Show, Nov 1st-5th.

Love,
Genevieve Chappell
Ms. EBC